Ralph Remington, Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder
My mother was conceived from a rape. Her mother was a light-skinned Black woman, who at the age of 19 saw her family burned to death in a fire. While she was recovering from shock in a hospital, a White doctor on staff had his way with her.
Out of that horrific act, my mother was born. The doctor was never punished and disappeared into the dustbin of history. My mother was subsequently adopted by a Black family and my biological grandmother, victim of the crime, was rendered insane in a mental institution for the rest of her life. Ironically enough, my mother looks like a White woman to the naked eye.
After discovering this information in high school, I had to find my way to forgiveness. There had to be some way to change the root conditions and collective psychological damage that was so commonplace in African American families across this nation, from our ancestral arrival on the shores of this country.
